Pueblo staff: Proposition 123 funding opens opportunities but baseline makes three‑year goal unattainable

Summary

City housing staff told the Pueblo City Council that opting into Colorado—s Proposition 123 opens competitive grants but that the measure—s baseline counts leave Pueblo required to produce 1,206 new deed-restricted affordable units by Jan. 1, 2027 — a target city staff says is unattainable without legislative change.

Melissa Cook, the city—s housing administrator, told the Pueblo City Council on May 5 that Proposition 123 gives Pueblo access to new state housing funds but imposes a prescriptive unit-count baseline that the city cannot meet under the law as written.

Cook said Proposition 123, a statewide ballot measure approved in November 2022, sets aside one‑tenth of 1% of excess TABOR revenue for housing and divides that money between the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA/OEDIT) and the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA). She said those pots fund programs including land banking (grants/forgivable loans up to $5 million), CHFA equity awards (up to $15 million), concessionary debt for rental projects, homelessness response, and gap funding for homeownership developments (up to $70,000 per door).

The nut graff: Cook said Pueblo—s legislatively required baseline is 13,403 existing affordable units under the measure—s counting…

Pueblo staff: Proposition 123 funding opens opportunities but baseline makes three‑year goal unattainable

Summary

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